I was working in the salad bar, meaning that I was responsible for maintaining the salad bar-doing constant checks to see that the containers were full, cutting up things that we were out of, and doing general cleaning. The person who had worked prior to myself gave me a super quick run through of where to find things and then I was on my own. As it turns out working in the deli is a lot harder than it appears. As the afternoon turned into evening., one of the girls in the bakery (we share kitchen space) asked me if I knew what I was responsible for at the end of the shift, and I had absolutely no idea. Working salad bar at this store means that not only are you responsible for getting the station shut down, but you are also responsible for taking out the trash and recycling, as well as sweeping and mopping the kitchen. It ended up taking a lot longer than I expected to finish.
On my third day of my now least favorite job, the manager told me that I would be working the counter, which meant learning how to operate the slicers. Yikes! Cheese has to be put back in a certain place, each item has to be re-wrapped before putting it away, and there is a constant changing of gloves. At the end of the night, the slicers have to be taken apart and cleaned, the counters wiped down, the scales wiped down, the tags taken out of the cold case (not to mention wrapping everything up individually)...the list just goes on and on!
Saturday night was my final night (until Tuesday) of being in the deli, and looking back, I have definitely learned a lot, and actually ended up enjoying the experience. Along the way I've learned some pretty valuable (and some humerous) lessons.
1. Cleaning the cheese slicer is a pain...ok cleaning all of the slicers are annoying (especially when you are vertically challenged like I am and can't reach one of the screws)
2. Don't be afraid the try something new just because you think you won't be able to handle it; you never know until you try
3. Don't give up after a day. Things might seem difficult at first, but with time they do get better.
4. It's ok to admit that you are still learning. For the most part, my customers appreciated that I let them know that I was still training. They said that they would rather I take my time than risk injuring myself on the equipmenet
5. It's also perfectly fine to ask questions along the way. It's better to do things correctly the first time than make mistakes. You might end up learning things that will make your day a whole lot easier.
6. When taking the nozzles off the soda machine, be careful not to hit the lever....you end up getting your hands sticky
7. Don't add the degreaser to the pot of boiling water. Chances are people won't be paying attention and most of the pot will end up boiling over
8. If you have an hour to get everything closed down, allow for more time, especially if you are still learning. Some things definitely take a lot longer than others
9. Work isn't the best time to have personal conversations on your phone, especially if it turns into an argument. Shortly after this incident my coworker apologized saying he didn't want to bring me into his problems. Sorry, I was already involved after you were yelling in front of me
In the end I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to work in another department. I've learned new skills, and I may find myself needing to know how to do some of the things we do in the deli for another job. It also means that there is always a chance to get more hours at work. When I go back to the deli on Tuesday I'm actually looking forward to it. There is always a chance for growth, good memories, and a pretty awesome hat :)
